The businessman behind a plan to put a sports center in Stafford sent a cease-and-desist letter to a county supervisor this week after she and a colleague said the proposal was hollow.
Farshid Hakimyar, CEO and president of a group that wants to build the Colosseum Sports Resort in central Stafford, emailed the letter Thursday morning to Rock Hill District Supervisor Crystal Vanuch and the rest of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors.
“This letter serves as a formal notice for you to cease and desist any actions that infringe upon the rights and interests of The Colosseum Sports Resort LLC,” Hakimyar wrote in the letter, which was addressed to Vanuch. “It has come to our attention that during the Board of Supervisor meeting on April 7th, you made certain comments that are harmful to our operations and reputation.
“We request that you immediately refrain from any further actions that could negatively impact our business, including but not limited to public statements, communications, or any activities that misrepresent The Colosseum Sports Resort LLC.”
If Vanuch fails to comply with the request, the letter continues, legal action could follow.
The Colosseum received attention after a presentation to the county’s planning commission billing the project as an alternative to a Buc-ee’s travel center that’s planned for the Courthouse Road area.
That Buc-ee’s would be the third Virginia location for a national chain popular with travelers. But some of the operation’s would-be neighbors — especially those in nearby Embrey Mill and Austin Ridge subdivisions — are dead set against the project.
Some of those residents are backing the Colosseum, which would feature indoor and outdoor sports venues, retail businesses, restaurants and a hotel. It could occupy the land for which Buc-ee’s has a contract if the gas station and convenience store isn’t approved by the county.
But after the Colosseum was brought up at multiple Stafford meetings, Vanuch on Tuesday pointed out that no plans for the project have been filed with the Stafford government, while Buc-ee’s has an active application that will soon come before the supervisors.
“I also heard reports from constituents that this individual who’s spearheading this is asking for funding from people,” Vanuch said. “Please don’t give this individual money. There are zero plans to implement this in Stafford. To me, it’s just a derailment campaign to try to stop Buc-ee’s and sell our constituents a bill of goods.”
Vanuch didn’t name Hakimyar but she said he’s got “absolutely nothing to offer.”
“And I just wanted to make sure that people understood that,” she added. “Hopefully the media also writes on this as well, because I certainly don’t want to see our residents defrauded by somebody.”
Hakimyar said in his letter that Vanuch was addressing the project’s pre-construction phase “while ignoring the initial three phases of the project, during which significant time, resources, and expertise have been invested.”
Stafford resident Julia Lewis, who frequently attends county government meetings, also spoke against the Colosseum on Tuesday, as did supervisor Chairman Deuntay Diggs.
Diggs said he supported Vanuch’s comments “full-throated,” and that he doesn’t like for the public “to be taken advantage of.”
“And I, too, have heard some of the conversations in my meetings over the last week. And, so again, I will say, if you don’t see me up here shouting from the hilltops — because I want a sports coliseum, I want more things like that — then that might be a clue.”
Hakimyar’s letter did not address Lewis or Diggs by name.
